Expanding our Reach with Partner Spoke Sites
Introducing an exciting update for the 2024 growing season: we are launching a pilot expansion of LEAFF to three new sites, extending beyond The Good Acre’s warehouse! These sites include Kilimo Minnesota in Lino Lakes, Sharing our Roots in Northfield, MN, and Big River Farms in Marine On St. Croix. These strategic partnerships will broaden access to the LEAFF program and foster operational efficiencies for farmers. Our goal through these partnerships is to enhance technical assistance services for farmers within LEAFF, with a particular focus on bolstering wholesale readiness.
These three sites have diligently organized and provided resources such as land access, coolers, irrigation, and wash stations to farmers within their respective organizations. The training conducted at these sites is tailored to meet the current stage of farm development, which is a huge asset to us, as it helps us to identify the capacity and season plans for the farm before the season even kicks off.
Through these partnerships, not only are the farms in LEAFF at each site better equipped with support and planning, but they also have the ease and convenience of delivering directly to the site they are growing on, reducing their cost of driving to TGA and increasing our teams capacity to do more ‘at the dock’ learning with other independent farms that deliver to our warehouse.
The long-term vision of this project is that we can begin to build a strong ‘missing middle’ supply chain that provides access and equity for small farms to sell to the larger markets they have been squeezed out of in the name of efficiency.
As The Good Acre strengthens capacity at our dock and expands into larger markets for partner farms, we anticipate the growth of spoke sites and their collaborations. This growth isn’t just indicative of individual success but of a broader development in the food system, where rising tides raise all boats and access to larger markets is available at any size of farm business. By empowering more small farms to participate in and shape new agricultural economies, we’re promoting a sustainable, resilient, and community-centered food system that prioritizes economic well-being and access to nutritious food for all.
